parking lot professor

Intermediate 🎓 Education / Academia

Definition

An adjunct instructor who teaches at multiple institutions simultaneously, literally driving from campus to campus between classes. They often have no office, no benefits, and subsist on poverty wages despite advanced degrees and teaching full-time hours.

Example Usage

As a parking lot professor, I teach at three different colleges and still qualify for food stamps.

Origin

Academic labor discourse, became prominent in the 2000s as adjunctification increased

Fun Fact

Some parking lot professors teach 8-10 courses per semester across multiple campuses and still earn less than $30,000 annually.

Source: Academic labor and higher education reform communities

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